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I have two distinct lives. One in the trenches of low-budget film and television, the other in professional gambling. Because of the feast-or-famine nature of show business I need a reliable income... gambling. So here you will read about both worlds. Enjoy!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Gambling With an Edge - advantage players David & Kyle

Our guests this week are named David and Kyle. These are 2 advantage players that successfully sued Virgin River Casino in Mesquite Nevada. They settled their case for $199,999, and were represented by frequent guest of our show, attorney Bob Nersesian.

2 comments:

Dye and Kyle met at a BJ Bash a few years ago and at that time they were on an upswing to the learning curve which would soon take a huge move upward. I knew they were both very intelligent and fine young men, and of course very motivated. There is no way Dye would have sworn at security or would either AP have gotten abusive. I know they were well schooled in what to do in these circumstances and I think they did very well under that extreme pressure and real threat. They are 2 shinning stars and will be heard from for a long time to come, I am sure.

On the one hand, I presume that most listeners to “Edge” are sympathetic to David and Kyle (as am I) and feel that the Mesquite casino needed to be roundly punished—by a very substantial amount “pocketbook justice”.

[Although, given the casino had insurance for such claims, it was well insulated from the sting of any verdict or settlement no matter how large]

On the other hand, while casino security acted oafishly and needlessly called (sympathetic) police to intimidate David and Kyle, it sounds like the pair were not even physically touched nor publicly humiliated. Their period of detention by casino security was relatively brief. Their only monetary damage was the inability to redeem $250 in casino chips. It also sounds like the entire episode lasted, perhaps, two hours before the two were on their way to Las Vegas and the Bellagio.

So, what is “just compensation” for what in big-picture terms is a relatively brief deprivation of liberty? Bear in mind, many people are arrested everyday in America by (real) police on relatively thin grounds for minor offenses they likely did not commit, are forced to spend a night in a jail cell, and then are let go the following morning after the case is reviewed by police supervisors or prosecutors. For such unfortunate people the law generally allows no compensation.

I merely write to suggest that a settlement of $200,000—or about $50,000 per hour each to David and Kyle for being detained in a hotel room—is a fantastic settlement. Bob Nersesian (who I never met and wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him) must be an extremely talented lawyer to achieve such a result.